Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Synopsis: When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world. As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

A few days ago, I posted a blog post about how I had been in a readers slump and was desperately seeking a book or something to break me out of it. This was that book

I’ve been looking for a while to expand my author reading list as I’m increasingly worried I’m becoming too encircled by the same group of authors and since several of my favourite bookstagramers had been absolutely raving about this book, and everyone in the Fantasy YA community seemed to be talking about it, I couldn’t resist the lure of the book with the pretty cover.

My love for this book didn’t grow until a few chapters in and honestly I don’t know why. I blame the reading slump. Feyre’s life in the human world didn’t capture me and the first chapters of character building seemed drawn out and slow. Don’t fear though, the moment Feyre is taken to Pyrithian things change for the better. The beginning is a solid three stars, but the moment Feyre is taken by Tamlin, woooo boy do things jump on the fast train to epic vile.

I fell in love with this book and the characters. The plot twists were unpredictable even though Maas was very very loosely following the old classic tale, and I honestly had zero problems getting sucked in the moment Feyre reached Tamlin’s estate.

Being a big “Beauty and the Beast” fan when I was a little girl, I was unsure of what to expect when everyone was saying “interesting redux of an old classic”. I was paranoid it wouldn’t live up to my expectations and it would fall flat. How can a book live up to such a massive hype?

Oh boy did Maas kick ass. Nothing in this book feels like a cheap rip off. She takes the classic and flips it on its head, pulls it apart with gentle hands and makes everything as vivid and fantastic as if the Fae world sent it to us mere mortals as a gift. Feyre is so different from Belle that its refreshing but not too jarring. Tamlin was hotter than a ghost pepper and I think I’ve found a new fictional heart throb. Lucien was the perfect addition to the story (love me a sidekick with a tragic backstory) and the villains were as twisted as they were interesting.

This book is what I like to call an “Epic Adventure Love Story”. This has substance, allusions/internal reflections on deeper issues and asks the reader to challenge their perceptions of how a heroine should act and what she should be like. This book was gripping and had me gaping and gasping throughout. I stayed up to 1:30 in the morning reading this book because I simply couldn’t bear to put it down to go to sleep. I HAD to know what happened to Tamlin, Feyre and the Spring Court.

Honestly I’m so glad Maas is planning a sequel to this because I have a mighty need to know what happens. While the ending didn’t end how I expected it to, I’m kind of glad it did end that way. I love when authors surprise you like that. I love that it didn’t end on a cliff hanger but was so enticing that you want to stick around.

Maas who has other beloved books (which are now on my too read list BTW), really knows her stuff. Her skill is phenomenal and her style of writing is so vivid its easy to slip into her world even if you don’t fully understand it. This may not be a surprise to readers who have already read Maas’ other works, but you don’t need to be well acquainted with her work to slip right in. This book is more of a bridging book between YA and Adult but swings more towards adult in certain areas. I’d recommend this book for 17 and up.

Man, I don’t think I gave this book an adequate review… it’s just too good to put into words. Trust me, if you can, run your little butt to the store and get this book in your life. Thank me later.